Iction - the terrifying truth
dopamine so that the brain recalibrates to synchronise its release in line with gaming’s in-built markers of success and leaderboard achievements.
“If you start young your neural pathways get their dopamine from that alone and your brain gets rewired. It is literally hijacked by its relationship with computer games. I have treated people who play up to 14 hours a day but don’t realise it has been that long,” says John Logan, head counsellor at The Edge clinic which runs a 90-day programme for extreme gamers.
“In some cases, it becomes the only focus of their life; their only relationship is with the screen. Often we see a parallel addiction to marijuana because it makes them relaxed and able to play for hours.
“They often end up just scraping through school but then fall apart at university, getting kicked off courses as they are isolated with no genuine romantic relationships while their ‘friends’ are drawn solely from the gaming community. Often their relationship with their family has been destroyed.”
HIS rehab clinic, based at The Cabin in Chang Mai, Thailand, treats Brits on a 45-day total ban on computer use before introducing short supervised online sessions over the next 45 days. It also works with GameQuitters, a leading online forum providing help and advice.
“We treat a lot of people from the UK and have had inquiries from the parents of a seven year old worried by the time he was spending on games. These types of inquiries are increasing,” adds Logan.
“We have also recently helped a 22 year old who dropped out of university, had lost 1.5 stones in weight and was estranged from his family. He is now back on track, has a girlfriend, has just been accepted by a university and is repairing the relationship with his parents. The sad fact is that this is on the increase yet it is a problem we don’t take enough notice of as a society. We just don’t know enough about the impact of handing an iPad to a six year old and we many not know that fully for 20 years.”
The gaming industry cites reports by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPH) saying the harm from screen time was often overstated and a Unicef study which found little evidence that a significant number of children were addicted, adding that “no evidence exists to suggest that moderate use of digital technology has a negative impact on children’s brains.”
It also highlights research from Oxford University and Johns Hopkins University that WHO’s move to classify “gaming disorder” was not evidence-based and that other research demonstrated that computer games can positively influence cognitive, motivational, emotional and social development.
For parents worried about teens and 20-somethings, Dr Graham says: “The best approach for parents is to talk to your children. Gaming can become a counterculture within a family so it is important to create a dialogue.”
Computer games are part of the entertainment industry and their output will continue to enrapture all age groups but research could take years to deliver a definitive understanding of their impact.